Research Paper on Stereotypes

Stereotype is defined by the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary as “a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.” In other words, taking a bunch of people and judging all of them as this or that is stereotyping. The biggest stereotypes made by people may be either racial or sexual. For example: “Caucasians are straightforward while Asians are highly contextual” and “All men are jerks and all women are fickle.”

If you plan to get a better understanding and write a research paper on stereotypes, you must always narrow down the subject matter. Stereotyping is a very broad subject and therefore must be dealt specifically instead of generally. This may not only focus on races and sexes. It can also be political (Republicans, Democrats, Communists), religious (Christians, Protestants, Muslims), academic (State university students, Private university students) and even musical (Classical music lovers compared to rock music enthusiasts). There are much more of those topics that can be used in a research paper on stereotypes—people tend to be more judgmental than anyone can imagine.

After narrowing down to a certain issue, it is necessary to gather data from books of different disciplines. A research paper on stereotypes may touch various fields like sociology, anthropology, philosophy and even psychology. It is important to read from a wide range of sources and view the issue in different aspects that may help you write your research paper on stereotypes. If you have a lot of sources at hand, you will be able to comprehend the issue on a larger picture and you even trace the origins and the underlying causes of stereotyping. You may also refer to historical sources, like Adolf Hitler’s intense disgust of Jews and homosexuals, among others, that lead to a mass persecution of people whom he deemed inferior to their race. That is a good example of stereotyping seen on a historical aspect.

But the research paper should not only intend to explain or to expose. A very significant contribution should be its ability to raise awareness. If more information and study is available to the public, then more people will understand it. When you write a research paper on stereotypes, it must also propose a solution in the end on how to end judging people depending on their social groups. This objective emphasizes the significance on doing further research so that people will gain more knowledge, and when they realize how hurtful and wrong stereotyping is, people will thus be inclined to avoid it. To educate is to remove one’s ignorance, and that is exactly what people should do for themselves.